I don't know for how long I can continue pretending to feel sorry for my best friend.

Your friend had an experience that was traumatic for her and right now, the people around her are likely doing more to feed into the drama than they are to support or give good advice.

Your instincts are right, your friend needs to talk to someone paid to listen.

While it's true that the reason for speaking to a therapist is often part of a person's lifelong struggle; it is also often just a few sessions — to work out something that has you overwhelmed beyond perspective, or that you are not dealing with well, or for a disagreement with your partner you need help to work through.

Tell her you think that even a couple of hours focused on this with the help of a trained therapist might go a long way towards some reason and healing and tools for the next time. Do what you can to get her to go to a first appointment. Assure her she doesn't have to get into anything else (although from what you shared, it may continue beyond those sessions).

Good luck. Be a friend unless and until it gets unhealthy for you; then when you think of her in the future you will know you did what you could. As a person you can help everybody you meet; but you can't save everybody you meet.

p.s. I think you should let go of your personal annoyance of her comparing her experience to rape; and understand how someone at this stage of maturity who was lied to for a year could feel so abused and cheapened by the experience that she would trade it for any conceivable singular event, no matter how horrific. You could tell her the word "rape" itself is upsetting to you and you'd prefer her to instead say she wished "anything else" had happened when she is around you.

/r/saneorpsycho Thread